New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, global music streaming and entertainment platform TIDAL, along with philanthropists Robert Nelsen and Mark Lampert have announced the inaugural group of winners of the grant program, TIDAL Unplugged. After combing through thousands of submissions spanning across different musical genres, backgrounds, and experience level, TIDAL selected five Detroit-based artists - Emma Guzman, Laurie Love,
Olivia Millerschin, Raye Williams and Sam Austins - as the recipients of the first TIDAL Unplugged grant.
Emma Guzman: Described by the
Detroit Metro Times as a "songwriting prodigy," and one of their top 15 artists to watch in 2016, the singer/songwriter has quietly amassed a substantial collection of songs.
Laurie Love: Born and raised in Detroit, MI, Love has a fresh and modern R&B sound which, combined with her songwriting, embodies the spirit of the city all while exhibiting a uniqueness.
Olivia Millerschin: As a multi-instrumentalist, Millerschin plays the ukulele, piano and guitar to enhance her folk and modern pop songwriting. As a member of
National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), Millerschin travels across the country to play countless shows on college campuses.
Raye Williams: Mixing the nostalgia of Motown-inspired grooves with Nashville's songwriting sensibility, this powerhouse vocalist effortlessly weaves a sound and a story that not only stirs the soul but moves the feet.
Sam Austins: Sam never fit between boundaries, so it's not surprising he's breaking all of them. His debut EP, 'ANGST,' was dubbed "project of the year" by Alt Weekly and he's previously shared stages with Post Malone, 21 Savage, Pusha T, Vince Staples, and
Black Milk.
Launched in February 2019, the pilot grant program is dedicated to supporting tomorrow's emerging musicians. The recipients of the grant will receive professional one-on-one training and access to personalized resources to hone their craft to most effectively grow their careers— studio time, training lessons, equipment, marketing, tour expenses, and more. Throughout the length of the program with support of TIDAL's handpicked industry experts, each artist will produce three songs released through Equity Distribution and premiere exclusively on TIDAL. At the end of the program later this year, the five artists will perform at a TIDAL Unplugged showcase and each artist will retain full ownership of his or her masters.
"Detroit has been home to so many iconic musicians, and the TIDAL Unplugged search gave us a glimpse into the multitude of bright, new talent in the region today. While we received many compelling entries, our winners, whose sounds range from R&B to folk to rap, rose to the top," said Jason Kpana, TIDAL SVP of Artist Relations. "We're honored to be able to provide these talented artists with the tools and mentorship needed to develop their craft creatively and professionally."
Following the completion of the
Detroit initiative, TIDAL aims to expand the Unplugged program to other markets to help foster emerging artists.
More information about the artists, how they'll be using the grant, their submission videos and more can be found on TIDAL.com/Unplugged.
